Etihad Airways to expand Australian presence with Perth flights

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will commence daily flights to Perth, Western Australia on July 15, 2014.

The
non-stop services between the airline’s hub and its fourth Australian gateway
bring to 351 the number of weekly flights which Etihad Airways
operates between Australia and Abu Dhabi.

An Airbus
A330-200 aircraft with 262 seats – 22 seats in Pearl Business Class and 240 in
Coral Economy Class – will fly the route.

Etihad
Airways’ President and Chief Executive James Hogan said the new flights would
be the first non-stop services between Western Australia and Abu Dhabi.

“The new
services will build the first ever commercial air bridge between Perth and Abu
Dhabi and will cater to the growing demand for travel between these two points
and beyond to Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

“Our
analysis shows there is a significant business opportunity on the Perth route.
Overseas visitor numbers are growing at a steady rate of around seven per cent
overall – with several markets to which we fly – such as Germany, France, Italy
and Ireland – recording an increase in visitor numbers of between 8.5 per cent
and approximately 30 per cent in the 2012/13 financial year. Significantly,
arrivals from the Middle East grew at more than 104 per cent over the same
period.

“Western
Australians, too, are travelling overseas in increasingly large numbers with an
average annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent over the past three years.

“Our
flights are timed to offer travellers the convenience of daily departures and
seamless connectivity to our global network over the Abu Dhabi hub.”

Mr Hogan
highlighted the importance of the airline’s partnership with Virgin Australia
to the success of the route.

“Our
partnership with Virgin Australia and codeshare flights to 14 towns and cities
in its Western Australia regional network adds immensely to the strength of the
business case for the route and the appeal of our consumer offering.

“From day
one, travellers throughout Western Australia will be able to connect seamlessly
in Perth to our international flights; likewise, international travellers will
have the opportunity to explore the state’s abundant visitor attractions and
diverse landscapes.

“Together,
we will offer travellers a winning proposition – the convenience of a single
ticket purchase, through-checked baggage, convenient flight connections, and
best-in-class service.

“We will
also be well positioned to contribute to the economic development of regional
centres through increased state-wide tourism flows and look forward to working
with tourism authorities to achieve this outcome.”

Mr Hogan
also identified a significant new opportunity for revenue growth from the
business travel segment and from freight.

“Eighty
of the top 300 Australian companies have their headquarters in Perth and many
of these have commercial interests in Africa and the Middle East. Equally, many
UAE businesses have a strong presence in Australia, particularly in the
agribusiness, resources and tourism sectors. We anticipate that this will
translate to strong demand for our new services.

“On the
cargo front, we will aggressively pursue a stake of the current volume of
outbound freight and will look to develop additional revenue streams from areas
that have not yet been fully developed.”